While Congress considers United States President Barack Obama’s request to use military force against the regime of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, fewer than four-in-ten Americans say they are in favor of launching a strike.

According to the results of a Washington Post/ABC poll released
on Tuesday, only 36 percent of Americans surveyed say they would
support a US military initiative that would involve launching
missiles against the Syrian government.

The poll was conducted by the news outlets by phone between
August 28 and September 1, one week after a reported chemical
weapons assault outside of Damascus, Syria was allegedly launched
by Pres. Assad. The White House has since blamed the Syrian
leader for the assault and says the use of chemical weapons
killed more than 1,400 people, including hundreds of innocent
women and children.

Pres. Obama has asked Congress to approve a resolution that would
allow for a limited strike against Assad’s regime that wouldn’t
require any American boots on the ground and would degrade the
Syrian government’s capabilities with regards to launching any
further chemical weapon attacks. Arguments were heard in the US
Senate on Tuesday, and on Wednesday lawmakers in the House of
Representatives are expected to weigh in.

As far as the American public goes, however, support for a strike
against Assad is not exactly at an all-time high. When a similar
poll was conducted last December, only 30 percent of Americans
asked said they’d oppose a strike, while 63 percent said they’d
favor military action. According to the latest figures, 59
percent of Americans are now opposed to using US forces to
reprimand Assad over an alleged chemical weapons assault thought
to have been orchestrated by his army.

Sentiments regarding a potential military strike launched from
the Mediterranean towards the Syrian coast aren’t divided among
party lines, either. The latest Post-ABC poll revealed that 42
percent of Democrats oppose a strike, as do 43 percent of
Republicans. Opposition among parties clocks in at 54 percent and
55 percent, respectively.

"I haven't had one person come up to me and say they're for
this war. Not one person," Sen. Paul said to Secretary of
State John Kerry during Tuesday’s hearing.

Pres. Obama, Sec. Kerry and the top lawmakers in Congress from
both the Republican and Democratic sides of the aisle say they’ll
endorse a military strike after meeting at the White House this
week.

Support is still scarce outside of the executive branch, however,
including abroad. The British parliament has already made it
clear that it opposes a strike on Syria, prompting Pres. Obama to
announce last week that he’s willing to launch a unilateral
assault should none of America’s allies climb aboard. If Great
Britain and France do decide to endorse Obama’s plan, however, 46
percent of Americans say they will support a strike, according to
the latest poll.

The results of the Post-ABC poll are based off of answers
supplied by a random sample of 1,012 adults.